Rhys White

Rhys White

PhD in Microbial Genomics | Comparative Genomics | Bioinformatics | Antibioic Resistance | Phylogenomics

Networking: a personal touch on tackling social anxiety & introversion

5 minute read

Published:

All of us face networking opportunities throughout our careers. From institutional social mixers to (inter)national conferences, symposia to workshops. In most instances, building networks can be crucial and even life changing. Don’t panic, I don’t know anyone who finds networking easy! Yet, introverts are repeatedly told to act like extroverts?!? Hopefully this blog post will come in handy at your next networking opportunity.

ASM Ambassador Communication for the Australian Society for Microbiology

Tips from one our communications ambassadors, Rhys White, a PhD candidate in the Beatson Lab & The Australian Centre for Ecogenomics, The University of Queensland.

All of us face networking opportunities throughout our careers. From institutional social mixers to (inter)national conferences, symposia to workshops. In most instances, building networks can be crucial and even life changing. Don’t panic, I don’t know anyone who finds networking easy! Yet, introverts are repeatedly told to act like extroverts?!? Hopefully this blog post will come in handy at your next networking opportunity.

From reading this blog, I’m hoping that you’ll be able to take away these key messages:

· Judge the situation you’re in and let that influence how you engage with people.

· Find common ground in your conversations – show your personality and passions.

· Presenting research doesn’t always have to be nerve racking!

Hot tip: All across Australia there are ‘café’ or ‘pub’ style microbiology meet ups that feature relaxed ‘chilled out’ presentations from local scientists. Start informal before going formal!

· Think about getting involved with social media and science communication.

· Prepare a little if you want to talk to someone specific at a formal event such as a conference.

About me

I’m originally from Wales (UK) where I completed my BSc. (Hons.) degree at Cardiff University (2016). I joined the Beatson Lab in 2017 and started my PhD in Microbial Genomics. The biology I’m most interested in is pandemic Enterobacterales and my favourite food at The University of Queensland is the New Mexico at Burger Urge, with a pale ale. Want to know more, check out My journey into [STEM: from primates, to parasites, to pathogens]

Hey Presto! Welcome to my network – literally it can be as simple as that.

Talking ‘shop’

This may come as a surprise to you, or it may not. Who you’re interacting with, and where (the kind of event it is), should influence how you engage with people. For example, if you’re going to a faculty of science student symposium then there is no point talking about your high-resolution phylogenomic investigations into specific clonal lineage designated XYZ to a chemist who’s working on finding new catalectic reagents (sorry, I’m not a chemist). Great conversation starters don’t always have to be research related. Believe it or not, most people in academia prefer talking about things you have in common. This is a great way to really get to know someone with a naturally flowing conversation before you introduce your research fields.

Speaking from personal experience. I attended and presented a poster at The Australian Society for Microbiology 2018 annual conference in Brisbane (see below). As I was leaving on the last day, my supervisor A/Prof. Scott Beatson and I went to grab a quick drink before heading home. While at the pub, we bumped into Prof. Michael Wise from The University of Western Australia and ended up having dinner together. He asked me what my researched focused on. This is someone I have never met before, so naturally being the eager student that I am, I whipped out my poster and gave the 3-minute elevator pitch AT THE PUB. If you’re looking on expanding your #scicomm skills then you should have a look at the Five simple rules for science communication by Melinda Ashcroft.

My poster at ASM’s 2018 conference in Brisbane. Presenting research doesn’t always have to be nerve racking!! Full poster available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.32515.43049

Social Media

A number of researchers take to social media to communicate their research to a wider audience. It’s free, accessible, and can be fun! This can be a very powerful tool, particularly with integrated translators that we are now seeing on Twitter. Social media can be an essential part of a great conference experience, as is the case with Belinda Fabian and her 15 tweets for a better conference experience. While on the topic of conferences, it’s worthwhile checking out the delegate programmes before you attend. Check out their university or industry website, ResearchGate profile, OrcID, and even google scholar! This will give you a head start on getting to know who you may be interacting with. Just be weary that sending an email, message, or LinkedIn invitation before you’ve met someone may give off them opposite impression of what you’re aiming for. This links back to the paragraph above: (i) find common ground in your conversations; and (ii) don’t force conversations (you risk sounding like a robot). Hey if all things go well, you can send them a more personalised LinkedIn invitation.

Short, snappy, and hopefully informative for those of us where being a social butterfly doesn’t come naturally to us.

The first genomic insight into Chlamydia psittaci sequence type (ST)24 from a healthy captive psittacine host in Australia demonstrates evolutionary proximity with strains from psittacine, human, and equine hosts

2 minute read

Published:

In 2022, we went into a pet shop and collected a faecal sample from a healthy (asymptomatic) pet bird. We discovered that a strain of Chlamydia psittaci found in a pet bird in 2022 is very similar to the C. psittaci strains that caused foal loss in horses in 2016. This is a bit concerning because it means that there’s a possibility that people and animals could get sick from C. psittaci, so we need to keep a close eye on it to make sure everyone stays healthy. To do that, we need to figure out who is giving C. psittaci to whom so we can come up with evidence-based ways to stop C. psittaci from spreading.

One clone to rule them all: Culture-independent genomics of Chlamydia psittaci from equine and avian hosts in Australia

2 minute read

Published:

In Australia, novel C. psittaci infections in horses raise biosecurity concerns. Here, we used limited whole-genome sequencing to figure out ’who is giving it to who’ and when these modern C. psittaci strains may have appeared in Australia. Our findings suggest that strains from parrots and horses have likely descended from a single progenitor strain.

Phase variation in the glycosyltransferase genes of Pasteurella multocida associated with outbreaks of fowl cholera on free-range layer farms

2 minute read

Published:

In poultry, P. multocida causes fowl cholera which leads to acute and fatal septicaemia with significant economic loss on the poultry industry. In Australia, gene-centric molecular studies are valuable in studying the epidemiology of outbreaks and guiding autogenous vaccination programmes. But these techniques do not provide the resolution for insight into the LPS structure of strains - enter whole-genome sequencing.

Completing the genome sequence of Chlamydia pecorum strains MC/MarsBar and DBDeUG: New insights into this enigmatic koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) pathogen

2 minute read

Published:

We present the first two complete C. pecorum genomes sequenced from diseased koalas. With these genomes, we expand on previous works by improving the gene annotations and by providing the genomic context of important virulence and accessory gene content. These findings lay the foundations for identifying and understanding species specificity and host adaptation behind chlamydial infections affecting koalas.